Myths and Legends of the World

Popol Vuh

The
Popol Vuh
is the most important source of information on the mythology of the
ancient Maya. A sacred book of the Quiché Maya of Guatemala, it was
written down in the mid-1500s. A Spanish priest discovered the
Popol Vuh
manuscript in the early 1700s. After copying the text, he translated it
into Spanish.

The
Popol Vuh
is divided into five parts. The first contains an account of the creation
of the world and of the failed attempts to produce proper human beings.
The second and third parts tell of the adventures of the Hero Twins,
Hunahpú and Xbalanqúe, and their forebears. The last two
parts deal with the issue of creating humans from corn and then tell the
story of the Quiché people, from the days before their history
began to accounts of tribal wars and records of rulers up until 1550.

Creation of the World.
At the beginning of time, the gods Hurucan and Gugumatz (also known as
Quetzalcoatl) shaped the earth and its features and raised the sky above
it. The gods then placed animals on the earth, hoping that they would sing
the praises of the gods.

When the gods discovered that the animals could not speak, they tried
again to make a creature that could praise its creator. Hurucan and
Gugumatz called on the ancestral beings Xpiacoc and Xmucane to help, and
together they created men of mud. However, these creatures talked
endlessly and dwindled away. Next the gods fashioned humans out of wood.
These beings populated the earth but soon forgot about their creators. The
angry gods sent floods and various objects to destroy them.

The Hero Twins.
In Part Two of the
Popol Vuh,
Hunahú and Xbalanqúe appear and take on the self-important
Vucub-Caquix, as well as his sons, Zipacna and Earthquake. Using blowpipes
the twins knocked out Vucub-Caquix's jeweled teeth, which gave him his
radiance. Vucub-Caquix accepted corn as a replacement for his teeth. But
because he could not eat with his corn teeth and because they did not
shine, he was defeated.

In Part Three of the
Popol Vuh,
the story goes back to an earlier time to Hun-Hunahpú and Vucub
Hunahpú, the father and uncle of the Hero Twins. These two
disturbed the lords of Xibalba, the
underworld,
with their constant ball playing. The lords commanded the brothers to
come to the underworld for a contest. Tricked by the lords, the brothers
lost the contest and, as a result, were sacrificed and buried in the ball
court. However, the head of Hun-Hunahpú remained unburied and was
placed in a tree.

A young goddess named Xquic heard of a strange fruit in a tree and went to
see it. The fruit was actually the head of Hun-Hunahpú, which spat
in her hand and made her pregnant. She later gave birth to the Hero Twins.
Hun-Hunahpú already had another set of twins, Hun Batz and Hun
Chuen, who resented their baby brothers. When the Hero Twins grew old
enough, they outsmarted the older twins and turned them into monkeys.

The Hero Twins became great ballplayers, as their father and uncle had
been, and one day the lords of Xibalba summoned them to the underworld for
a contest. The twins saw this as an opportunity to avenge their father's
death. Challenged to a series of trials, they passed every one they were
given. They survived a night in the House of Cold, escaped death in the
House of Jaguars, and passed unharmed through the House of Fire. They
almost met defeat in the House of Bats, when a bat cut off
Hunahpú's head. The lords of Xibalba took the head to the ball
court as a trophy, but Xbalanqúe managed to return the head to his
brother and restore him.

Knowing they were
immortal,
the Hero Twins now allowed the lords of Xibalba to defeat and
"kill" them. Five days later, the twins reappeared,
disguised as wandering performers, and entertained the lords with amazing
feats. In one of these feats, Xbalan-qúe sacrificed Hunahpú
and then brought him back to life.
Astounded, the lords of Xibalba begged to be sacrificed themselves. The
Hero Twins agreed to the request but did not restore the lords of Xibalba
to life. The twins then dug up the bodies of their father and uncle and
brought them back to life.

History.
The final two parts of the
Popol Vuh
tell how the ancestral couple once again tried to make humans who would
praise the gods. The four men they created from maize became the founders
of the Quiché Maya. These people praised their creators and
flourished. The generations that followed them are listed in the closing
section of the
Popol Vuh.